Not So Bitter End
by LosingInTranslation
Summary: Emily, coming down from shoe shopping with Garcia, recalls her conversation with Rossi about his second chance. Post Ep for S07E05


**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own anything associated with the show… I just like playing with the characters in it from time to time. Dance Monkeys! Dance!  
><strong>RATING:<strong> T for Teen  
><strong>SPOILERS:<strong> Post Ep for S07E05  
><strong>WORD COUNT:<strong> 642  
><strong>PAIRING:<strong> Post Prentiss/Rossi  
><strong>SUMMARY:<strong> Emily, coming down from shoe shopping with Garcia, recalls her conversation with Rossi about his second chance.

**A/N:** There was just something about the look on Emily's face when she was talking to Rossi that said so much more than the script allowed, and this is my interpretation.

**REVIEWS:** Reviews are the way I know if people are enjoying the work or not. So, if you leave one, THANKS! And if not, I hope you found at least a little something to brighten your day, and thanks for taking the time to read.

* * *

><p>Normally, a shoe shopping trip with Garcia was enough to take her mind off of anything that ailed her, but staring at the new pair of chocolate brown Libby Edelman boots with the most perfect kitten heels did little to distract her mind from David Rossi.<p>

She was haunted by their conversation. Not by what he had to say, or even what she told him to do. No, she was haunted by the images of the life she walked away from; a life with Rossi. Wishing it was something else she could blame on Ian Doyle, Emily knew better. She lost that chance long before Ian resurfaced in her life. In the cold light of day, she knew their relationship ended on her terms.

Emily may have gotten a second chance at life, but her conversation with Rossi proved to her, once and for all, that timing really is everything. She felt a twinge in her side at the thought, and unconsciously reached up to touch the spot. The only thing time gave to her was a chance to heal and the ability to gain a new perspective. Maybe she couldn't have a life with Rossi, but at least she still had his friendship.

It meant more to her than she could express with everyone hovering nearby, to have David confide in her that way. Emily actually choked up when he asked her if what he was doing was right. She tried to cover her discomfort quickly, and she spoke straight from the heart when she told him to take the plunge. Regardless of what had happened between them, she wanted more than anything for Dave to be happy, even if that meant his happiness was with someone else.

She kidded with him about who Caroline was, but she knew it was his first wife. And she knew there was something about that relationship Dave had always regretted. Emily was never able to get him to open up about his first wife, or why they had split, but she knew that marriage meant a great deal to him, and she knew that they had kept in touch, even after their divorce. It was one of the many things about Dave that made her love him. He may have joked around about how much his ex wives hated him, but she knew that, all kidding aside, he held each one in very high regard, and graciously accepted the blame for failures of his marriages. She even remarked, when she told him she couldn't continue their relationship, that he could finally rest in the knowledge, that this time, it wasn't his fault.

Sergio brushed across and through her legs, announcing to her his intention to jump into her lap, just moments before he launched himself into position. Emily looked down at her feline companion and tickled behind his ears as he rubbed his head into hands. "Apparently I need to find a man who's more like a cat, Sergio. Someone who can live without me, never pressuring me, or crowding me, until he wants a little affection." The cat dragged his sandpaper tongue along the side of her hand, signaling to her that it was time for his food dish to be filled. "Or fed, I guess." She smoothed her palm down the length of his spine, all the way through to the end of his tail, before getting up from her seat and walking into the kitchen, the cat right on her heels.

Dumping the little packet of food into his dish, Emily concluded, "Well, I guess this means the only Italian we're getting around here is your name, and Pasquini's Pizza down the street." Sergio looked up at her with a quizzical tilt and she shook her head. "No way. You want anchovies, then you better grow some opposable thumbs, my friend."


End file.
